A Hero’s Guide to Deadly Dragons: The Heroic Misadventures of Hiccup the Viking
by: Cressida Cowell
Published by: Little, Brown and Company
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Reviewed by Jamie Driggers
This book is AWESOME!
There. I got that out of the way. Because once I try to explain what the book is about, I bumble it–and it sounds like a nothing. Nothing special. I know this because I have excitedly told just about everyone I know and many a random person in line with me at the grocery store about this fantastic book. They all give me the tolerant look, and I feel as if I’ve failed again.
So, Hiccup the Viking child is stealing a book from the library on his birthday and, boy, do he and his friends run into a heap of trouble. (See? I warned you.) Dragons! The Thing! The Hairy Scary Librarian!
Doesn’t do it justice, does it?
Trust me. This book isn’t about the plot. It’s the names, and the wording and the alliteration. Oh, the allure of the awe-inspiring alliteration! The vocabulary in this book is positively delicious. I could see my children’s brains expanding while I read. And yet, it wasn’t work.
And yes, this is a Viking child. And, as Vikings are generally portrayed, lying, cheating, and stealing together with a little bit of vulgarity, are all highly prized traits at which to succeed. However, if you want to give your children a lesson in morality…not so much. Look elsewhere. And if the name Big-Boobied Bertha (who, incidentally has large bosoms) is offensive, you may want to pass. But even though “boobies” isn’t an acceptable word in our house as a general rule either, I cannot imagine I will ever regret the day we discovered this book.
Not only were my children enraptured, I was also. I didn’t want to quit reading and their pleas to continue were met with one more chapter, and yet one more. And another. Because, frankly, I can’t think of a chapter book that I have ever enjoyed so much on the read-aloud as this one. It is absolutely fabulous.
Armchair Interviews says: A 5, 5, 5-star middle-reader book adults and children both will love.
From our armchair to yours...
